Under the Light of a Crescent Moon
by frostmoon13
Summary: Akira is a boundlessly optimistic seventeen-year-old boy with a dream. A dream to conquer the Grand Line, and become the greatest pirate in the world. Join him, Tora, Ichirou, Yuno, and the rest of the crescent moon pirates as they meet new friends, rivals, enemies, and (of course) new challenges. OCs accepted.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is an OC story that I've been thinking of writing for a while, but never got around to doing. **

**I do need some OC ideas, though, so if you've got any ideas, I still need ideas for:**

**I need mainly male OCs now, for the crew.**

**A navigator**

**A lookout**

**Lots of marines**

**Rival pirates (I'd say three more should do)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of it's Characters. Only my OCs.**

Chapter 1

Crescent Moon Akira

The sea was calm, the ship gently rocking back and forth. The few waves there were were sparkling in the sun. He grabbed the restraining bar of the mast, hoisted himself on top, and was about to let go when...

WHACK!

Akira woke up with a start. He sat up and stared around the room. The window was smashed, and glass littered the floor. In the centre of the room was a rock.

Someone had thrown a rock through his window.

Akira sighed. He yawned, and stretched. Grabbing his large backpack and his treasured hat, he kicked some shards of glass shards out of his way, and dashed out the door.

He ran down the streets of Crown Village, his sandy hair blowing around from the momentum.

The door to a large tavern opened and a lady in her early thirties poked her head out. "Good morning, Akira! Where are you off to this early in the morning?"

"Can't stop to chat, Mari!" Akira called. "I'm going on an adventure!"

He finally stopped at the seaside.

The ocean shimmered. An infinite horizon of aquamarine, dotted with green and gold islands. Gulls were gliding on the horizon.

Akira filled his lungs with salty air and shouted, "YA-HOOO!" He ran two fingers along the crescent shaped scar on his cheek. "Look out, Lu." he muttered. "I'll become the king of the pirates!"

Akira got into the small boat moored at the small dock. He let down the sail, and took the barrel of food he'd put there the night before. He looked back at the small village he called home, and at his house. The smashed window gleamed in the morning light. He didn't care about the damage. It was probably the neighbors anyways.

Mari was standing at the dock, waving her hands above her head. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her long, brown dress billowing in the warm breeze. "Be safe!" she shouted. "And have fun!"

"Bye Mari!" he shouted. "I'll miss you!" And with that, he sailed off into the horizon.

* * *

Akira stared at the waves rolling by, gently rocking his boat. He yawned. "Aahh..." he muttered. "I'm hungry... Maybe I should have stopped at the tavern before I left..."

The soft lapping of the waves made him feel drowsy. He felt his eyelids closing. No. He pinched his arm, pulling himself up sharp and short. He sighed. "Wow..." he said. "Maybe I should have asked Mari to join my crew." he said. "She's a good cook." He knew that idea was ridiculous. Mari was a good friend of his, but she was no fighter. If he was going to surpass the king of the pirates, he needed really good fighters on his crew.

Akira became lost in thought, imagining himself and his crew on various adventures up and down the grand line. He was pulled out of his daze with a start. There was a large sea monster, about five times the size of his boat, staring at him hungrily.

Akira sat up. He grinned. "Hey, I've heard of you!" he said. "Our local sea monster."

The sea monster charged, snapping at Akira.

Akira vaulted over the strike, and, using the monster's head as a springboard, launched himself into the air. "Get this, fish." he said. "I'm not the weak little kid I used to be." He twisted in mid-air, and pulled back his fist. "Seismic... GONG!"

The punch hit the monster in the jaw. It's skin rippled and there was a cracking sound. All of it's teeth fell out. It's skin turned from moss green to a vomit brown.

Akira flipped and landed on his feet in the boat. "Oops..." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe I went a little too far. I still have trouble controlling this darn fruit. Ahahaha..."

He flopped back into a sitting position, leaning back against the side of the boat, and adjusted his straw hat on his head. "Ahhh... That was a nice little fight." Then, he yawned loudly. He sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the lapping of the waves again. He heard the clink of glasses, and the pouring of drinks. With that, he slipped into a dream.

(_flashback starts_)

* * *

_Ten years earlier_

Akira sat on a high seat at Mari's tavern, The Brig. As usual, there was a crowd, laughing and singing songs and generally having a good time.

Akira sipped his orange juice. "Hey, Mari!" he called. "Refill, please!"

Mari stopped berating a customer for flirting with her, and walked over to him. She picked up his glass and topped it with more orange juice. "Would you like something to eat, Akira?" she asked.

Akira nodded. "Yeah!" He started bouncing in his seat, waiting for Mari to finish piling a plate with pieces of steak, and a small mountain of vegetables.

"So, Akira." Mari said, brushing her dark blue bangs out of her eyes. "I hope you like it."

Akira grinned and took a huge bite out of his steak. "Thanks, Mari." he said. "Steak is my favourite!"

Mari chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Akira asked, fixing her with his brown gaze.

Mari smiled at him. "It's just, you're such a cute kid." she said.

Akira felt his face get hot. "Mari!" he cried. "I'm not a kid! I'm seven!"

"Hmhmhm... Of course. I'm sorry." Mari said.

Akira frowned and took a bite of his steak. He stopped when someone placed something over his eyes.

"You didn't come to meet me at the port." a familiar voice said. "That's mean..."

Akira lifted the hat off his eyes. Sitting in the seat next to him was a tall, lean man with tanned skin, unkempt black hair, and a small scar under his eye. He was about twenty-five. He was wearing a long black cloak, weatherbeaten shorts that reached his knees, a red, long sleeved shirt, and a long black cloak that covered most of him. At the moment, his hood was drawn back. He was grinning down at Akira with a very goofy grin.

"Lu!" Akira cried happily. He jumped off his stool and slam-tackled him in a hug.

"Hey, you." Lu said, ruffling his hair.

Mari turned to him. "The usual, Lu?" she asked.

Lu grinned. "No thanks, Mari." he said. "I was wondering if I could borrow Akira for a minute. I know how much he likes it here-"

"Of course." Mari said. "Akira, I'll put your food in the oven so it will still be warm when you get back."

Akira grinned. "Thanks, Mari! You're the best, sis!"

Mari chuckled, and took his plate away.

Lu grabbed his hand. "C'mon, kid." he said. "I've got something for you."

Akira skipped along, trying to keep up with Lu's long strides. "Lu, where're we going?" he asked.

Lu gave him that goofy grin again. His straw hat was shadowing his eyes. "You'll see. Shishishishi!"

Akira grinned. "Shishishi" he said, copying Lu's laugh. Akira had often asked Lu his full name, but Lu's response was always the same. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Lu had been visiting Crown village for the past three years, normally showing up about twice a year, staying for a few weeks. Most of the villagers just saw Lu as a travelling oddball, someone who wasn't worth their attention. Akira, however, thought Lu was the most amazing person in the world.

They stopped when they got to Lu's small fishing boat. Lu jumped in, then jumped out, carrying a strange-looking fruit in his hand. He crouched down the Akira's level and handed him the fruit. "This is for you, if you want it."

Akira's eyes widened. "What is it?" he asked, starstruck.

"It's a devil fruit." Lu said. "I'm not sure which one it is, but it will give you strange powers."

"Really?" Akira said. He took it and was about to take a bite, when Lu stopped him. "Wait a minute..." he said. "It also takes away your ability to swim."

"Oh." Akira said. "So..."

"You can eat it if you want." Lu said. "But, I just wanted to tell you the risks."

Akira nodded. He stared at the swirly fruit, and took a huge bite. He almost spit it out. He didn't know what poop tasted like, but he was pretty sure devil fruit tasted like that. With effort, he gulped it down. "Yechk!" he said. "It tastes horrible."

Lu grinned. "Well, what did you expect? You'll find out what your ability is soon." he grinned. "Happy belated birthday, Akira."

(_a few months later_)

"Pirates!" someone shouted.

Akira looked up from his plate of pasta. "What's going on?" he asked.

Mari took his hand. Her eyes were full of terror. "Stay with me, okay, Akira?"

Akira nodded.

They made their way into the square. There was a crew of pirates running in. The man who was obviously the ringleader had a woman by the wrist. He had disheveled brown hair, and a nose like a squashed tomato. He locked his gaze on them. He let the woman go, and stalked up to them. He stood over them, looking down at them. "Well," he said, smirking at Mari. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

Mari blushed angrily. "Wha-"

Akira saw red. He didn't know what this pirate guy wanted, but he wasn't going to let him touch Mari. He stepped forward, and punched the pirate in the leg.

There was a sickening crack! The pirate clutched his shin and howled in pain. Akira looked at him in confusion. He was pretty sure he hadn't hit that hard.

"You damn brat!" he shouted. He drew a long blade, with a crescent-shaped tip. He thrust it at Akira.

Akira felt pain rip through his face. He fell to the ground, holding his face.

"Akira!" Mari cried. She gasped as the pirate grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, woman!" he growled.

"Mari!" Akira screamed. He stopped when he felt a hat land on his head, covering his eyes.

"Hey, now..." someone said. "That's not very nice... These are good people."

Akira pulled the hat off his head. "Lu!" he shouted. His friend smiled, and put him down. "You alright, Akira?"

Akira nodded. He ran his finger along the cut.

Lu stood up. "Who are you?" he asked the pirate.

The pirate glared. "You haven't heard of me?!" he roared. "I'm bear claw Morris! I have a bounty of ten million berries!"

Lu raised an eyebrow. "Only ten million?" he asked. "Geez... I thought you'd be stronger than that."

Morris growled at him. "How dare you!? Who do you think you are?!" He thrust his blade at him.

"Lu!" Akira screamed. He stopped short when Lu's arm stretched, grabbed the blade, and bent it like it was nothing. He stared in complete amazement. "Lu...? Did you eat a -"

"Yep!" Lu said. He turned to Morris. "In answer to your question, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

All activity stopped. Mari stared at him in horror. "M-Monkey D. Luffy?" she managed.

Lu grinned. "Yep!"

Morris looked horrified. "You're the pirate king?" he cried.

Luffy grinned. "Yep!" He glared at Morris. "Listen up." he said. "I happen to like this island. A nice, calm place in the east blue. I won't let anyone take this island or this village!" He stretched his arm back. "Gum-Gum... Pistol!" The punch hit the pirate square in the face, and he went flying.

Akira stared in awe. "Wow..." he said.

Morris' crew stared at Luffy with a mixture of horror and fury. "How dare you do that to our captain?!"

Luffy glared. "Shut up." he growled.

Then, something interesting happened. All of the pirates collapsed.

"H-how did you do that?" Akira asked. Luffy grinned. "Maybe I'll tell you later." he said. His eyes sparkled with pride. "Nice devil fruit power. It's called the Tremor-Tremor fruit."

Akira gasped. "The what?"

"It allows you to cause earthquakes." he said. "I knew a great pirate who had that power."

Akira's eyes shone. "Really?"

"Yep." Luffy turned to the pirates, who were still unconscious. "I'll clean this up."

* * *

"You mean you won't be coming back?" Akira asked.

"Nope." Luffy said. "It's been fun, but I need to get back to the new world. I want to see my crew, anyway."

Akira sighed. Then, he looked into Luffy's eyes, feeling determined. "I know!" he said. "I'll surpass you one day. One day, I'll be King of the Pirates!"

Luffy grinned at him. "You think you're going to surpass me and my crew?" He paused. "I think I understand how Shanks felt, now." He took his straw hat off his head and placed it on Akira's head. "Then keep that hat safe for me." he said. "Until you surpass me, I want you to take care of this hat for me. It's extremely important to me. I want you to give it back to me, in good condition... But only when you've surpassed me."

Akira gripped the edge of the straw hat. "Thanks, Lu..." he said. "I'll make you proud of me one day!"

Luffy got into his boat. "I know you will." he said. "Take care, Akira!"

Akira stood on the docks, waving frantically until the boat disappeared on the horizon.

(_flashback ends_)

* * *

Akira woke up when his boat hit something. "Oh!" he said. "It's a pier!" He had been asleep for a while, it would seem.

"Ahh..." he said, taking a deep breath. "I've decided! I'll find my first crewmember here! I wonder who it will be..."

* * *

Across town, on a large stone wall, someone sneezed.

**Okay, like I said at the beginning, this is mainly an OC story. If you have any ideas, please PM me. **

**If you have an OC, please include:**

**name: **

**age: **

**height: **

**species:**

**affiliation: (pirate, marine, that sort of thing)**

**appearance:**

**epithet: (ex. Crescent Moon Akira) **

**position on the crew: (rank if it's a marine) (Sorry, should have mentioned it earlier, but also include which crew if your OC is a pirate.)**

**devil fruit: (if any)**

**haki: (if any)**

**personality: **

**Pet peeves: (something that greatly annoys them that might be considered not so annoying to other people)**

**history: (this is an important one. In most cases, a character's history shapes who they are.)**

**quirks: (if they have any, although this is a One Piece fic... hahahaha... I've never seen one character in One Piece without a quirk of some kind)**

**So, if you have an idea or a request, please send it to me!**

**XD**


	2. Thunderstroke Tora and the marine base

**Hello, everyone! I've gotten three OC submissions! Yay!**

**Akira: Ooh! Will they join my crew?**

**FM13: You have to wait!**

**Anyway, ignoring Akira, There are still places open, though. **

**navigator: (this is an important one)**

**lookout: **

**marines: **

**rival pirates: (one more should do)**

**So, if you have an idea, PM me!**

Chapter 2

Tora and the Marine base

Akira strode through the town, taking in all the sights. He had never left his home island before, so he was totally ready to see everything there was. He filled his lungs with fresh air, then gagged. "Cough! What's going on?" He had just stepped into a disaster area. He walked up to a marine, who was helping a woman pick up apples from overturned crates. "'Scuse me, mister." he said. "What happened here?"

The marine looked up at him. "This place was the sight of the capture of a pirate crew."

Akira's eyes widened. "By the marines?"

The marine shook his head. "The marines would never cause such destruction in our own city." he said. "Basetown is a very important location in the east blue."

"Basetown..." Akira repeated. "That's not a very creative name."

"That's not the issue at hand here!" the marine shouted, growing shark teeth.

Akira laughed. "This town is such a weird place! Anyway, if the marines didn't catch the pirates, who did?"

The marine's face darkened. "I couldn't believe it when I saw the wreckage. All those pirates, there must have been fifty of them. The ground was soaked in blood. They were barely alive..."

"Just tell me! Don't give me the whole building dramatic tension thing." Akira said, laughing even harder.

The marine frowned. "It was Thunderstroke Tora."

"Thunderstroke Tora?"

The marine nodded. "Now, if you've got no other questions, I've got a lot of work to do."

Akira frowned and walked away. "Thunderstroke Tora..." he muttered. "Wonder who that is..."

* * *

Akira passed a cafe about ten minutes later. He stopped and sniffed. He took a whiff of the delicious smell coming from behind him and did a double take. "FOOD!" he shouted before dashing through the door. He jogged over to the counter, hopped onto a stool, and stared at the menu.

A lady brought him a drink of water and took his (multiple) orders. When she placed a heaping plate of meat in front of him, he asked, "Hey, do you know who 'Thunderstroke' Tora is?"

The lady gasped. "Well," she said, wringing her hands. "Uhmmm.."

Suddenly, a head popped up from behind the counter. "I know!" The small figure struggled and fell. Then, he heard the scrape of wood on wood, and a small girl appeared. Apparently, the girl had climbed onto a stool. She was about eight, with nut brown hair tied into pigtails, and a big mess of freckles across her nose. When she smiled, Akira noticed she was missing her two front teeth. "I know who she is!" she said. "She's-"

"Chiyo!" the lady snapped. "We don't talk about her!"

"But Mommy... Why not?"

"Because," a boy said, coming up behind him. "She's a demon." The boy was obviously her brother. He had the same brown hair, and freckles across his nose. He was about Akira's age. "Here." he said, motioning to him. "I'll tell you, but not in the cafe."

The lady sighed. "Hurry up, Daiki." she said.

"Okay." Akira jumped off his seat, and followed the boy outside.

* * *

"You're not serious, right?" Daiki said. "Do you seriously not know who she is?"

Akira shook his head. "Who is she? You said she was a demon?"

Daiki nodded. "Thunderstroke Tora is a ferocious bounty hunter. She's famous for bringing in pirates who were on their last breath! She's the most famous bounty hunter in the east blue since... well, since Roronoa Zoro."

Akira raised his eyebrows. "So, she's pretty strong."

Daiki nodded. "Yeah. I've never met her face to face, but I don't want to. That girl is crazy..."

Akira stopped. "Wait..." he said. "Tora is a _girl_?"

Daiki sweatdropped. "You didn't know that? How dense are you?"

Akira put his chin in his hand. "Hmmm..."

Daiki looked at him. "What are you thinking?" he said.

Akira grinned. "Well, I was thinking... Maybe I should ask her to join my crew!"

Daiki's eyes grew wide as dinner plates. "Wha-? Your crew? Ask her to-"

"Thanks for the info!" Akira shouted. He dashed down the road.

"Hey!" Daiki shouted. "What about your food?!" But it was lost in the wind.

* * *

Akira ran through the streets. He was grinning from ear to ear. "I wonder if that Thunderstroke Tora is still in town." he muttered to himself. "I bet she's awesome! Hunh?"

He screeched to a halt. Standing a few feet away was a girl and two huge guys.

The two guys were built like tanks, with short hair and rough features. They were obviously pirates. "Well, girlie." one of them said. "That's a nice sword... If you don't want to get hurt, give it to us!"

Akira had to look twice at the girl to make sure it _was_ a girl. Her rust-coloured hair was cropped short, and stuck up in all directions. She looked about Akira's age, probably a year younger. She was wearing a dark green shirt, black pants, and heavy combat boots. She had a brown traveller's cloak draped over her shoulders, with the hood down. There was a long sword in a leather sheath at her hip, stuck through a black sash around her waist. Akira couldn't see her face, but he imagined the girl frowning, or looking terrified.

Her response surprised him. The girl drew her sword, and pointed it at them. The blade rang as it left it's scabbard. The sword was beautiful, with an interesting finish. It looked like black flames were climbing up the blade.

"If you try," the girl said in an almost inaudible whisper. "I'll kill you. I've got nothing against killing pirates." her voice rang like the blade of her sword, sharp and cold. "You're not worth killing time." she said this in a bored kind of drawl.

The two pirates charged. "Who do you think you are, talking back to us, girl?!"

The girl sighed. She brandished her sword. She lunged forward so fast, Akira had to make sure he didn't blink so he didn't lose sight of her. In one swift motion, she had slashed both of them across the chest.

The pirates slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, with blood spurting from their wounds.

The girl took a cloth out of one of her pockets, and wiped the blood off her blade, then sheathed it. She took some papers out from the inside of her cloak. She absent-mindedly flipped through the papers. They had pictures of criminals. Akira gulped when he noticed most of them were crossed out in red ink.

She finished flipping through the pages, and turned to the pirates.

Akira's heart froze for an instant. The girl's eyes were a startling sea green. She had a no-nonsense, if-you-piss-me-off-I'll-gut-you look. This girl wasn't just scary. She was plain menacing. "You guys don't even have bounties on your heads. Hardly worth it."

Akira had to remind himself to breathe. That was so impressive. "That must be her." he said. He couldn't believe his luck. "Hey!" he called.

The girl fixed her ocean-coloured glare on him. "What?" she asked. Her look changed from menacing to minor annoyance.

Akira looked at her. Her description definitely fit that of a demon. At least, her fighting style did. "Are you Thunderstroke Tora?" he asked.

Her reaction was something he didn't expect. A hurricane seemed to brew in her eyes. She reached for her sword like she was going to gut him, but she reigned it in. Her frown deepened. "Do _not_ call me Thunderstroke." she growled.

Akira's eyes widened. "So... Is that a yes?" he asked. The glare he got told him he was right.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Well," Akira said, adjusting his straw hat. "I wanted to see how strong you are."

Tora's eyes flashed. "Are you challenging me?" she growled.

Akira put up his hands. "Hold it! I just wanted to know if you'd join my crew."

Tora stopped. She stared at him like he had grown an extra head. "Your crew?"

"Yeah, I run a pirate crew. I'm looking for crew members." he said.

Tora stared at him as if he'd fallen from the moon. "You're asking _me_ to join your crew? Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"

"Yeah, I'm asking you to join my crew."

"You are aware that you're asking a bounty hunter who could potentially kill you to join you."

"Yep!"

Tora sighed, which sounded more like a cross between a sigh and a growl. "You're kidding me..." she muttered. Then, she stared straight into his eyes. "I've never seen your face before." she said. "I keep every wanted poster I've ever gotten as long as the pirate's still alive. I've never seen you before."

"I don't even have a flag yet." Akira said, grinning.

Tora held his gaze for one minute, then stepped back. "No."

"Oh, come on!" Akira pouted. "It'll be fun!"

"Not a hope." Tora said. She turned on her heels and started to walk away. "Oh, and by the way," she said over her shoulder. "I suggest you steer clear of me in the future. If you try to challenge me, pirate, I'll cut you in two." With that, she walked off.

Akira stood there in the middle of the road. The wind seemed to get dry as it whipped his sandy hair around. Then, he clenched his fists and threw them in the air. "Oh, yeah!" he shouted. "I so want her on my crew! She's so cool!"

* * *

Akira spent the night sleeping in his boat. When he woke up, his mouth tasted like sand. He yawned. "Maybe I should stop at that cafe for breakfast." he said. He jumped out of his boat and walked to the cafe. He had just gotten outside the cafe when he noticed a large group of marines coming up. "Didn't put up a fight at all. She wasn't all that scary by comparison to some of her battles. That Thunderstroke Tora..."

Akira perked up. He walked up to the marine officer, who looked like a captain. "What did you just say?!" he shouted. "Did you say you caught Tora?"

The captain frowned at him. "Yes. I did."

"What did she do?" Akira said, a white-hot lump of anger rising in his throat.

"Nothing." the captain said. "She is too dangerous to be kept unchained. She will be kept tied up, so she will claim no more lives."

"But she's a bounty hunter!" Akira shouted. "And she didn't kill anyone who wasn't a bounty head!"

The captain shook his head, like he was talking to a little kid. "We have to nip evil in the bud before it sprouts. Now, if you'll excuse us, boy." He and his group of marine lackeys walked away, leaving Akira venting in the road.

With a huff, Akira stomped to the centre of town. He had never been to the marine base, never thought of it, but now he was going and he was angry.

The marine base was a conical building, surrounded by a large rock wall. It was blue with black stripes like a tiger's.

Akira stared up the rock wall. It was way too big for him to climb, and there was no foothold. "Well," he said. "It's just like what Lu used to say. If there's no foothold, make one." he flicked the wall. There was a small rumble, and the rocks cracked, creating tiny footholds. Akira grinned. "I love this devil fruit!" he chuckled. He grabbed onto the small cracks, and hauled himself up. He took a look around. "Oh! There she is!" He jumped off the wall, landed on his feet, and walked up to Tora.

She didn't look too good. She was tied to a cross-like stake for one thing. Her cloak was ripped and tattered. There was a hole in her shirt, and a rip in the knee of her pants. There was a line of dried blood running from her hairline to the tip of her chin.

"Hey." he said, walking up to her.

Tora looked up. There was a dazed look in her eyes. Then, she frowned. "Oh, it's you." she said. Her voice was a kind of weak croak now. Not the steely ring it had been the day before. "Come to ask me to join your crew again?"

Akira grinned. "Yep! I also had some questions."

Tora glared at him. "Now what?"

"I heard you're one of the most fearsome bounty hunters around." Akira said. "Also, I've never seen a girl swordsman before. Are you any good?"

Tora glared. "I would leave that to your discretion."she growled. "But as you can see, I'm a little tied up at the moment."

Akira giggled. "I'm a little tied up at the moment! That's funny!"

Tora rolled her eyes. "Why don't you stop irritating me and get out of here?" she growled.

Akira looked. "Well, I'm just thinking... That marine guy took your really cool sword, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll get it back! See ya!" With that, Akira dashed away, leaving Tora alone.

* * *

Tora rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That guy's such an idiot..." she muttered. How the hell could that guy have so much energy? She sighed and tried to get comfortable. Not exactly easy, considering the fact that she couldn't really move. There wasn't much to do, except stare at the sky. Tora's vision blurred. Without much warning, she slipped into the past.

(_flashback begins_)

_Ten years earlier_

"Are you serious?" Norm, one of her dojo colleagues asked. "The world's greatest swordsman?"

"Yeah!" a six-year-old Tora said. "I'll be the best swordsman ever! Nothing's gonna stop me!"

The three other guys sitting at the park with them laughed. "Yeah right." one of them said. "There's no way you could be the best, Tora. There are so many swordsman out there! Besides, you're a girl!"

"That's what you say!" Tora shouted. "I will do it!"

The three other guys laughed. "Yeah right, Tora."

"C'mon guys, let's go home."

"See you tomorrow, Tora."

All the guys left, waving and laughing.

Tora tried to ignore the intense anger that was coursing through her veins. She hated that. That was why she never told anyone. Everyone always made fun of her. Whatever. She would show them. She would show them all.

Tora gripped the bokken at her hip. She stomped into the dojo courtyard, where there was a bunch of targets set up. Tora always went there to train. Her sensei was away at the time.

Tora stood by a target. She whipped her bokken from her sash like she was unsheathing a blade. She stood there for a minute, then let it rip on the target. Wood hit leather as the bokken made contact. Tora had no idea how much time passed. She could feel a bead of hot sweat trickle down her neck. There was a salty taste in her mouth. The wood splintered against her palms. Tora could feel the temperature rise. She was deaf to everything except the smacking of the bokken, and the ringing in her ears. Her vision tunneled. The temperature became oven-hot, the world spun around her, and everything went black.

When Tora opened her eyes, everything was hazy. She was lying on the dewy grass, with what felt like a wet cloth on her forehead, but her insides burned like they were on fire. She tried to sit up, but her arms felt like jelly, and she couldn't get too far.

She gasped when someone said, "Hey, take it easy, kid." Large hands took her around the shoulders, and propped her against the dojo's fence.

It took Tora quite some time to be able to look up. Sitting beside her was a man. He was tall and muscular, although Tora couldn't see much of him in the darkness. She couldn't see his face.

Tora tried to get up, but the man put his hand on her shoulder, keeping her down without much effort. "You shouldn't waste your energy." he said. "You've still got a fever."

"Who... Who are you?" Tora managed.

The man chuckled, but he didn't answer.

Tora's vision cleared a little. She just caught the moonlight's reflection on something at the man's hip. "Are you a swordsman?" she asked.

The man nodded.

Tora reached out and tapped one finger on the sword's hilt. Even with the fire coursing through her veins, Tora felt a pleasant tingle. She had just touched a real sword. "That is so cool..." she said weakly.

The man chuckled again. He leaned back against the fence, and Tora got a look at his face for the first time. He had tanned skin, or as far as she could tell by moonlight and starlight. He only had one eye.

"Well, kid?" the man asked. "What's your ambition?"

Tora's eyes widened. "What do you mean? How can you tell?"

The man smiled slightly. "You have a tiger's eye." he said. "Besides, no one works themselves into a feverish state on a whim."

Tora blushed. She didn't want to tell him, but something about this guy made her trust him. Besides, if he laughed at her, it was nothing new. "I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman!"

The man chuckled, but it wasn't mocking. She couldn't explain it. "That's a good dream, kid." he said. "Never lose sight of it."

Those words pierced Tora's heart like an arrow. Not in a thousand years would she have expected _that _answer. She tasted salt. Her shoulders started to shake. She sniffled and started to cry.

"H-hey..." the man said. "What's the matter?" He sounded flustered, like he was wondering what he had said to make her cry.

"N-no one's ever... encouraged me like this... It's always 'you can't do this', or 'don't be crazy, you're a girl'." she sniffed and wiped her forearm across her eyes.

The man smiled. "In my experience, gender doesn't define the swordsman." he said. "It's the people who are often considered the underdogs that achieve their dreams."

Tora smiled. She sniffed one last time, and said, "Right... My name will be known all over the world one day..."

The man cocked an eyebrow. "And that name is...?"

"Tora!" she said. "Takakaze Tora!"

The man nodded. "I'll remember it." he said.

Tora smiled. Before she knew what was going on, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

When Tora finally woke up, dawn was breaking. The man was gone. Tora sighed. She hadn't even learned the guy's name. She couldn't even thank him for his kindness. She made a move to stand up, when she realised there was a sword across her lap. It was beautiful, with a leather scabbard and a flower-shaped guard. The sword was tied to the scabbard with the rope. Attached to the rope was a note. Tora opened it.

_Hey, kid. _

_This is for you. A good swordsman needs a good blade. _

_I don't want you to untie that rope until you turn fifteen, or you manage to beat every other boy in that dojo you go to. Whichever comes first. _

_Don't be too upset if you can't draw it. The sword's name is Shodai Kitetsu. It's a famous blade. This sword is considered cursed. I got the feeling you can tame any curse that comes your way. Also, it won't draw if it doesn't acknowledge you as a competent swordsman, you won't be able to draw it. _

_If you can master this sword, you'll become a lot stronger than others. If you can't... I'm sorry. _

Tora blanched. A cursed sword? Then, she grinned. She looked at the sword, and said. "Okay, Kitetsu... Bring it on!"

(_flashback ends_)

* * *

Tora blinked. The haze of the courtyard met her gaze. There was something running towards her, kicking up dust. Tora squinted, wondering if it was the heat. Then she noticed the idiot, at the head of a mob of marines. He had one hand on his straw hat to keep it from falling off, and holding... HER KITETSU IN HIS OTHER HAND!

Akira seemed to notice her, and grinned. "Hey! Tora!" he called "I got your sword!"

**Well, there's chapter 2! **

**Akira: Yay! I got her sword!**

**FM13: Oh, please.**

**If you have an OC, please include:**

**name: **

**age: **

**height: **

**species:**

**affiliation: (pirate, marine, that sort of thing)**

**appearance:**

**epithet: (ex. Crescent Moon Akira) **

**position on the crew: (rank if it's a marine) (Please include which crew if your OC is a pirate.)**

**devil fruit: (if any)**

**haki: (if any)**

**personality: **

**Pet peeves: (something that greatly annoys them that might be considered not so annoying to other people)**

**history: (this is an important one. In most cases, a character's history shapes who they are.)**

**quirks: **

**If your character has attack names, please name a few. **


	3. The semi-great escape

**Hello everyone! Here's chapter 3! **

**Tora: Were you expecting chapter 4, maybe?**

**FM13: Hey... You're not very nice. **

**Akira: Ahahaha! This is so great!**

**FM13: (rolls her eyes) **

**Anyway, there are still plenty of open spaces for OCs. **

**Still need a:**

**navigator**

**lookout**

**marines**

**If you have an idea, PM me!**

**I don't own One Piece, only my OCs.**

Chapter 3

The semi-great escape

Tora stared at the mob of people chasing that idiot... What was his name? He hadn't told her.

Tora squinted. Something was wrong with the marines who were following him. They were constantly tripping and stumbling, trying to aim their rifles with no luck.

The idiot made it to where she was tied up, and stood there, panting like an animal. "I *huff* made *huff* it..." he managed. "They chased me all the way from the pier..."

Tora's eyes widened. "From the pier?!" she said, incredulous. "What the heck is the matter with you? What did you do?"

"Well," the idiot said, with a grin. "I just walked up to the captain, who was holding your sword, said 'Give it back', punched him, took the sword and ran."

"That was probably the stupidest plan in the history of plans." Tora deadpanned.

"Here." the idiot said, holding out her sword. "Will you join my crew?"

Tora paused. "No."

The idiot pouted. "Why not?! I got your sword for you..."

Tora rolled her eyes. "In case you've forgotten, I didn't ask you to fetch my sword, and I didn't say I'd join your crew if you did."

He sighed. "Fine, but I'll still let you go." he said. "What they did to you wasn't' fair. I'll bet you want to be a master swordsman one day."

Tora was pulled up sharp and short. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

He grinned. "Well, You've got a tiger's eye." he said. "Also, I saw you take down those pirates yesterday. One of them did have a bounty on his head. You're not some money-obsessed demon."

That comment made Tora's heart stand still. A tiger's eye? She hadn't heard that since... Well, since that stranger said it ten years before.

Tora looked up and gasped. "Look out!" The marines had caught up. One of them was aiming a strike right at the idiot's head.

To Tora's surprise, the idiot ducked. The sword missed him by an inch and slashed her arm. She tried not to wince as she felt warm blood trickle under her sleeve.

The idiot frowned. "That's not very nice to attack from behind!" he said. He pulled back his fist.

Tora frowned. No way was he going to take out a man twice his size with a punch.

"Seismic...Gong!" The punch caught the marine in the jaw. The shock waves were unbelievable. The punch created a wind so strong it parted her hair.

"Wha-?" she managed. "What the hell are you?"

He turned around, grinning like a madman. "My name is Flyer D. Akira! I'm an earthquake human!"

* * *

Tora couldn't believe it. Earthquake human? He ate the tremor-tremor fruit? "Are you kidding?" she asked.

The idiot, Akira wasn't it?, shook his head. "Nope!" he said. "I'm an earthquake human! Here!" he held out her sword again. "I'll just cut the ropes!" He tugged at the sword. "Hey! It won't draw!"

Tora rolled her eyes. "Have you ever touched a sword before?" she asked.

Akira shook his head. "Nope."

"Then don't even try to draw that sword." she said. "And even if, by some miracle, you managed to draw it, you would be cursed, and die a painful death."

Akira stepped back, almost dropping her sword. "How did you manage that?" he asked. "Are you a ghost?" His eyes lit up. "Or a zombie?!"

"Do I look dead to you?" Tora growled. "No. After years of training, hard work, and near-death experiences, Shodai Kitetsu chose me as it's wielder."

Akira nodded. "Oh! That's so cool!"

"Yeah. Can we continue this conversation later? The marines have caught up."

Akira looked behind him. "Ack! We need to get out of here! I'll try to undo the knots!"

The marines charged in.

"Just give me my sword!"

* * *

"Just give me my sword!" Tora shouted.

Akira flinched. What was up with this girl? "Fine." he handed her the sword. Quite honestly, he was glad to. The sword gave off this deadly aura that made him nervous.

Someone behind him shouted, "Die!" Akira flinched.

There was a ringing of steel and a loud clang! He looked up.

Tora was standing over him, blocking a huge ax with her demon-sword. Actually, he couldn't decide which of them was scarier, Tora or that sword of hers.

"Normally, I don't fight marines." Tora said to the marine captain. "But I think I can make an exception. You _did_ knock me out and tie me up." Her expression turned menacing. "Naturally, I'm in a pretty bad mood."

All the marines gulped. "Th-Thunderstroke Tora is loose!"

Akira laughed. "Alright!" He jumped up. "Tora!" he shouted. "Step back! You don't want to get hit by this!"

Tora stared at him in confusion, but she slashed the marine she was fighting and jumped to the top of the rock wall.

Akira took a deep breath. He concentrated. _Focus on one area. If you lose control, you could sink the island. I don't want to do that..._ Slowly, carefully, he raised his fist. "Seismic... Sledgehammer!"

He let rip. The ground cracked beneath his fist, scattering marines left and right. Akira gasped. The shockwaves were going to hit the wall where Tora was standing! _Come on... Come on... Shock waves... STOP!_

Tora gasped. The shock waves stopped right in front of the stone wall.

Akira sighed. "Wow! I almost lost control!" he laughed.

Tora jumped down beside him. "What do you know..." she said. "I'm impressed."

Akira grinned. "Well, I'm going to be king of the pirates one day, so this is just the start."

Tora eyed him like he had lobsters crawling out his ears. "King of the pirates?" she said. "Right. Those shock waves you create must have addled your mind. Don't you know there's already a king of the pirates?"

Akira nodded. "I'll surpass him and take his title! What else is there to it?"

Tora gave him a strange look. "You've got a pretty crazy dream." she said. "Then again, I guess my goal is too."

"What goal?"

Tora's eyes snapped with determination. "I've got something to prove. Gender doesn't make the swordsman. I'm going to become the greatest swordsman in the world."

Akira felt excitement course through his veins. "Wow! Awesome! I'm not surprised. I've never seen a swordsman like you!" He stopped himself. It sounded like flattery, even to him. It would seem like he was trying too hard.

To his astonishment, Tora smiled. Not the smirk that he had seen the other day. It was a genuine smile.

Akira gathered all his courage. "Will you join my crew?" he asked.

Tora shrugged. "Ah, what the hell? Why not?" she said. "Besides, you're not just a common idiot like I thought before.

It wasn't much of a compliment, but it warmed Akira right down to his toes. He grinned. "ALL RIGHT!" He caught Tora around the waist and gave her a bear hug. "Yes! You'll finally join my crew!"

"Uh..." Tora seemed lost for words. "I understand you're happy, but honestly... The marines are getting up."

Akira stopped and let go. "Right! Sorry."

Tora grabbed his hair and pulled him down. A sword slashed through the air right where their heads had been.

A marine swung his club, hitting Tora's sword and slamming it against the ground. "Aah!" Akira shouted. "Tora! Your sword!"

Tora frowned. Suddenly a look as dark as what Akira figured the entrance to hell would be. She kicked the marine full-force in the crotch. She picked up her sword, and to Akira's astonishment, there wasn't even a scratch on it.

"Tora... How on earth did your sword not break?"

Tora smirked. "You don't know much about Shodai Kitetsu, do you?" she said. "It's one of the twelve saijo o-wazamono blades. It wouldn't be even scratched by that lightweight club."

"Cool!" Akira said. Then, he paused. "What's a saijo o-wazamono?"

Tora's head fell. "I just wasted words and breath..." she muttered. She lunged. "Come on!" she shouted. "Let's get to your ship and get the hell out of here!"

Akira said, "Oh, right!" He grabbed Tora's hand, and pulled her along. "Let's go!"

Suddenly, a marine came up on Tora's side. As if the sword had a mind of it's own, it cut the marine across the neck.

Akira's blood ran like ice through his veins. "Why did you?" Then, he noticed Tora looked just as horrified as he was. She sheathed her sword with great effort. "Shodai sometimes gets too bloodthirsty, and attacks on it's own." she said. She looked terrified. "That's about when I get into some kind of near death experience." She pulled down the collar of her shirt slightly. There was a long, pale scar running from the right side of her neck to her right collarbone. Akira swallowed. That must have hurt.

They darted to the pier, where his boat was docked. Tora stared at the boat incredulously. "How on earth are we going to get away from here in that piece of flotsam?" she said.

"It'll be fine." Akira said, grinning.

"You're kidding. That thing doesn't even have oars!"

"Get in!" Akira said. He pushed Tora into the boat, then getting in himself. He sent a shock wave through the water, creating a huge wave. They rocketed away from the town, Akira whooping with excitement, Tora clinging to the side of the boat with one hand, the hilt of her sword with the other. When they finally slowed down, Tora slumped down. "Geez... I can't believe I got suckered into this..." she muttered. Akira bit back a sigh of disappointment, but then, to his relief, he realised she was smiling.

**Please review!**

**If you have an OC, please include:**

**name: **

**age: **

**height: **

**species:**

**affiliation: (pirate, marine, that sort of thing)**

**appearance:**

**epithet: (ex. Crescent Moon Akira) **

**position on the crew: (rank if it's a marine) (Please include which crew if your OC is a pirate.)**

**devil fruit: (if any)**

**haki: (if any)**

**personality: **

**Pet peeves: (something that greatly annoys them that might be considered not so annoying to other people)**

**history: (this is an important one. In most cases, a character's history shapes who they are.)**

**quirks: **

**If your character has attack names, please name a few. **


	4. The rattlesnake

**Hello! Chapter 4 has is the first appearance of the first submitted OC! Thanks to Mr. Scary face!**

**There are still some openings for OCs. **

**navigator: **

**lookout:**

**marines**

**I don't own One Piece. I only own the few OCs I thought of myself. **

Chapter 4

"Akira, are you paying attention?"

Akira opened an eye. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Tora, who was sitting on the other side of the boat, rolled her eyes. "I was saying, we need to figure out who we need on the crew, in order of importance." she said. She rummaged through her cloak, and pulled out a spiral-bound book. She pulled a pencil out of her sash, and started scratching some marks down. A compass, a wrench, a frying pan, a captain's hat, a number one sign, and some other things.

"So," she said. "I assume we're going to the grand line, right?" she asked.

Akira nodded.

"Well, you're the captain, obviously." Tora began. "Then there's me, the... umm..."

"You're the first mate!" Akira said.

Tora raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, Akira..." she said. "It might not be such-"

"No!" Akira said, pouting. "I found you first, so you're the first mate!"

Tora shrugged. "Can't argue with that logic, I suppose." she said. "Okay. We need a navigator. I can only do so much."

Akira froze. He had figured, since Tora was a famous seafaring bounty hunter, she would be an authority on the subject. "Wasn't it your job to sail the seas and hunt pirates?"

Tora frowned. "That may be. But that doesn't mean I was any good at it. I spent my first month and a half getting lost. The only reason I turned to bounty hunting in the first place was because lots of pirates attacked me because of Kitetsu. I decided to become a bounty hunter because it was enough to cover my meals."

"Okay..." Akira said. "Oh! We need a cook!"

Tora nodded. "Yeah. Then there's also something extremely important we need."

"Yeah!" Akira said. "Lots of food!"

Tora sweatdropped. "Where did that come from?" she deadpanned. "No, I meant, we need a ship. A dinghy like this isn't going to support a full pirate crew, let alone navigate the grand line."

"Oh yeah!" Akira laughed. "We need the best ship in the world! After all, I'm going to be the king of the pirates. The best pirate around needs the best ship around."

Tora nodded, then stared at the sky. "Oh!" she said.

Akira looked up. There was a gull flying overhead.

Tora gave a sharp, shrill whistle that made Akira jump.

The gull landed on the bow. Akira hadn't noticed the sailor's hat and the satchel at it's side before. "Hey, it's the news coo." he said, grinning. "You got a paper for us?"

The news coo plucked a roll of newspaper from it's satchel and handed it to Tora. Then, he turned to Akira, and when he didn't move, he pecked at his nose.

"Ouch!" Akira yelped. He grabbed the news coo by the neck and started shaking it. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

Tora snorted. "He wants you to pay him."

Akira blinked. "Pay him?"

"You didn't expect the paper to be free, did you?" she asked. "These birds fly all over the world delivering newspaper."

"Oh." Akira rummaged through his pockets. He frowned. He couldn't find his wallet. He started emptying his pockets, spilling lots of stuff on the deck. A pack of playing cards, pocket lint, a candy bar - score! -, an old candy wrapper - not so score -, and finally, his wallet. When he opened it, a little fly buzzed out.

He looked at Tora sheepishly. "Can I borrow a couple hundred berries?" he asked.

Tora chuckled and handed him a coin.

Akira dropped it in the small holster around the bird's neck.

The news coo took off, cuffing Akira upside the head with it's wing.

* * *

Tora handed Akira the newspaper. Akira flipped through it for a while. "Awesome!" he shouted.

Tora, who was looking through some new wanted posters, jumped. "What is is?" she asked.

Akira shot up, pumping his fist in the air. "Oh, yeah! Look at this!" He shoved his newspaper in Tora's face.

Tora's eyes widened. "Uh... What?"

Akira whooped again. "Mari! Mari's in the newspaper!" He did a kind of happy dance. "Mari's tavern got a new roof! She must have won the lottery! I'm so proud of her!"

Tora frowned at the newspaper. "Who's... Mari?" she asked.

Akira jumped once more before calming down enough to say, "She's my big sister. She's a lot older than me. She was fourteen when I was born, but she's been like a mom to me since Mom left us twelve years ago."

Tora's eyes widened. "Oh."

* * *

While Tora flipped through the rest of the wanted posters, Akira flipped through Tora's book. It was a sketchbook. He stopped at a drawing of a man with one eye. It was all black, so it was almost impossible to see what he looked like. "Who's that?" he asked.

Tora's face darkened. Akira got the idea that he had trespassed into dangerous territory.

Instead of gutting him or cutting him in two, Tora sighed. "I don't know, to be honest." she said. "He's the man who gave me Kitetsu."

Akira raised his eyebrows. "He must not have liked you much, if he gave you a cursed sword."

Tora frowned. "Just because he gave me a cursed blade doesn't mean he didn't like me. It just means he had faith that I could master this blade."

Akira shrugged. "Okay, okay..."

Tora rolled her eyes and went back to scanning the wanted posters. After about five minutes, she raised an eyebrow. "Well, whaddaya know..." she said. "He's got a bounty now."

"Who?" Akira asked.

"Here." Tora handed him the wanted poster.

Akira gave the poster a quick once-over. "'WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.'" he read. "'Sabakukaze Jake. Fifteen million berries! Not bad!"

Tora stretched and grabbed an apple from the food barrel beside her. "His epithet is 'Rattlesnake Jake'. Sounds pretty classic western, doesn't it? I've heard some pretty nasty things about him."

"What did you hear, Tora? If this is his first bounty, how come you've heard of him?"

Tora sighed. "You can't be a bounty hunter and not know Sabakukaze Jake." she said. "He's from a desert country in the grand line. He's a bounty hunter, or he used to be, anyway. He has quite the reputation around the Loguetown area right now..."

Akira grinned. "So, he's pretty good, eh?"

Tora frowned at him. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Akira didn't say anything, but he grinned mischievously. He grinned even wider when Tora groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Well..." he said after a few minutes. "Maybe I should-"

"You don't even know where to find him." Tora interrupted. "Don't even bother. Besides, not all bounty hunters are going to join you just because you ask them."

Akira felt shocked. "But you did." he said. "And you look a lot scarier than him."

Tora glared at him. Her eyes seemed to go from a calm ocean to a hurricane. "I wouldn't take that as an invitation to invite any kind of dangerous bounty hunter to join your crew..." she muttered.

"I thought you said he's a former bounty hunter."

Tora facepalmed. "Nothing I say is going to penetrate that thick skull of yours, is it? I'm trying to tell you it's a bad idea."

* * *

When they landed at the next town, Akira was first off. "Aahhh..." he said. "We're here! Loguetown!"

Tora stepped up beside him and rolled her eyes. "You do realise we need more than two crew members before we sail to the grand line."

Akira nodded. "We'll need to stay in Loguetown for a while." He paused. "Hey! Race you to the restaurant!" He dashed off.

"Hey!" he heard Tora called after him. "Watch where you're-"

Akira didn't hear the rest. He crashed into someone who was standing in the middle of the road. He hit the guy so hard he fell back on his butt.

"Akira!" Tora growled. "You need to look before you leap!"

Akira grinned. "Yeah, you're probably right..." he said. He looked up at the guy. "Sorry about that." he said.

Tora hauled him up to his feet. "Sorry about my-" She gasped when she got a look at the guy Akira had crashed into.

The guy was tall, about 6'2'', with long, spiky blond hair, slicked back. He wore blue jeans, a white button-up shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, a dark brown poncho with black zigzag trim, brown cowboy boots complete with spurs, and a wide brimmed cowboy hat. Two leather belts hung loosely at his waist. There were at least a hundred magazines of bullets attached to the belts. He looked like a stereotypical cowboy, although that wasn't a common fashion around the Loguetown area.

The guy turned around. He had a calm, calculating expression. He looked about twenty, maybe twenty-one. He looked like the kind of person girls would call the 'strong, silent type'. Akira gasped when he caught sight of the guy's hand. It was a six-barrelled machine gun.

"Wow!" Akira shouted. "That's so cool!"

Instead of smacking Akira upside the head or telling him off for staring at someone, Tora stepped in front of him, drawing her sword. "Akira!" she snapped. "Get back!"

Akira cocked his head. "What's wrong, Tora?" he asked.

The silent guy looked at the two of them and smiled. He held his left hand out to Tora. "You must be 'Thunderstroke' Tora." he said in a pretty deep voice, as if he wasn't used to using it. "It's a pleasure. I am Sabakukaze Jake."

**Well, there you have it! A bounty hunter turned outlaw appears! What will happen next?!**

**If you have an OC, please include:**

**name: **

**age: **

**height: **

**species:**

**affiliation: (pirate, marine, that sort of thing)**

**appearance:**

**epithet: (ex. Crescent Moon Akira) **

**position on the crew: (rank if it's a marine) (Please include which crew if your OC is a pirate.)**

**devil fruit: (if any)**

**haki: (if any)**

**personality: **

**Pet peeves: (something that greatly annoys them that might be considered not so annoying to other people)**

**history: (this is an important one. In most cases, a character's history shapes who they are.)**

**quirks: **

**If your character has attack names, please name a few. **


	5. If you can't join 'em, fight 'em

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the wait! I got hit with such a bad case of writer's block, it's not even funny. **

**So, I still need a few more OCs. **

**Here's a list. **

**navigator**

**lookout**

**a few marines **

**So, anyway, I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. I only own the few OCs I thought up myself. **

**Thanks to everyone who submitted OCs. So far, I've managed to think up a place for all of them. Yay!**

Chapter 5

"It's a pleasure, 'Thunderstroke' Tora. I am Sabakukaze Jake."

Tora stared at the outstretched hand in front of her, trying to control the sudden fear that had seized her heart. This guy, she realized, wasn't just a dangerous bounty hunter. He was a monster in his own right.

_Stop it._ She thought to herself. _You can't show any weakness. _

She shoved her hands in her pockets. "It's _Takakaze_ Tora." she said, curtly.

Sabakukaze Jake chuckled lightly. "My apologies." he said. "It's still an honour."

Akira poked his head out from behind her shoulder. "Hey! Joke! Are you any good at fighting?"

Tora elbowed her idiot captain in the stomach. Could he not see the six barrelled machine gun the guy had for a hand? "Sorry 'bout that." she said.

Jake just smiled good-naturedly. "You kids are kinda cute."

Tora took a step back in alarm. "What the hell?!" she snapped.

Jake looked confused. "What's wrong?" he said. He sounded genuinely confused.

"You mean..." Tora said, deciding to take the plunge. "You have no idea how awkward that sounded?"

Jake stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.

_You're kidding._ Tora thought.

Again, Akira stuck his head out from behind her shoulder. "Hey!" He stepped out from behind her, and walked right up to Jake. "Will you join my crew?"

Jake shrugged, and said, "Why not?"

Tora grabbed her captain's shoulder. "Now I'm convinced that your mind's been addled by your shock waves." she growled. "You don't just ask total strangers if they can join the crew!"

Akira gave her his innocent look. "Why not?" he said.

"You just don't!" Tora snapped. "I'd rather fight the guy."

"Umm... Excuse me..."

Tora cursed. She'd nearly forgotten that Jake had been listening.

Jake was smiling at them, in a way that made Tora feel like he was staring inside her soul. "If you wish to test my strength before I join..." he nodded acceptance. "I need to earn... The approval of the first mate... as well as the captain before I join." He propped his heavy machine gun of a hand on his right shoulder. "Shall we?"

Akira grinned. "Ooh! Tora! Can I fight him?"

Tora was about to snap at him that that would be a bad idea, when Jake chuckled again in his deep voice. "I don't mind if you both attack. I'm used to dealing with multiple opponents."

Tora felt a twinge of annoyance. It was powerful enough to overcome the shock that he had said two very complex sentences without pausing to think, as if he was trying to remember how to put his complex thoughts into words. She had heard that that was one of the effects of not speaking much.

She placed her hand on Shodai's hilt. "Alright." she said. "I'm looking forward to a good scrap."

Tora drew her sword.

Akira clenched his fist.

Jake smiled slightly, and lowered his machine gun.

They lunged. Tora ducked low, keeping Shodai's hilt close to her chest, ready to draw it. She ran through scenarios in her mind. Jake was a marksman, so she had to get close. Make his long range attacks useless. In a flash, she was near him. She made a strike at his head with Shodai's hilt, and the strike met thin air. Tora was thrown off balance, like someone had wrapped a rope around her ankle and pulled. She ended up face-first in the mud and gravel.

She stood up, cursing. "How on earth did he get away so fast?" she grumbled.

That's when she noticed Jake, standing where she had been standing less than twenty seconds before.

Akira moved, raising his fist. "Seismic Gong!" he shouted.

In a flash, Jake disappeared again in a flash of yellow and brown. He appeared again behind Tora. Like _right_ behind.

Tora made a slash to his neck, but something wrapped around her waist and squeezed hard. She gasped in pain as she was lifted off her feet.

A deep hiss whispered in her ear. "I have short range defenses, too."

Tora opened her eyes. She was staring into the eyes of a wild animal.

_Ah, great. _she thought. _A snake. I should have known. _

Tora didn't know much about snakes. She wasn't ashamed to admit it. On the island where she grew up, the only snakes were tiny garter snakes. She had certainly never seen a rattler before. And even if she had, she wouldn't have expected it to be over eight feet long and squeezing the strength out of it's prey.

"A devil fruit." she managed. "I assume it's the snake-snake fruit."

The snake she assumed to be Jake nodded.

"Snake hug." he said.

Tora felt her stomach turn upside down. "_What_?" she said, incredulously. "Do you have any idea how awkward that sounds?"

The snake frowned. "It's awkward?"

Tora nodded. "Yeah."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"Oh."

Akira charged forward. "Let her go!" he shouted. He punched Jake in the... middle.

Tora felt a shock pass through her body. There was a sickening crack. She coughed. "Damn it, Akira!" she shouted as best she could. "Cut out the damn shock waves already!"

Akira stepped back, looking pale. "Sorry Tora!" he said.

"No harm done... Yet." Tora groaned.

"Well?" Jake asked. "Have you acknowledged my worth in combat? Have I proved myself worthy?"

Tora was painfully conscious of the forked tongue flickering around her ear. "You need to finish your job." she growled. That's when she noticed her right arm, her sword arm, was free of Jake's bind. She slashed at Jake's neck.

The only problem with her plan was, she didn't have a very good chance of getting any kind of power in her slash in the position she was in, and the snake could feel her movements, which gave him another edge.

Jake's grip tightened even more around her middle.

Tora heard her ribs crack. Her vision tunnelled.

And, if that wasn't bad enough, Jake opened his mouth, and struck. His fangs sank into Tora's shoulder. Tora cried out in pain.

If Tora's memory served her correctly, rattlers were venomous snakes. A cold feeling spread across her shoulder, creeping through her veins, making it's way through her system, towards her heart.

"Tora!" Akira shouted.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of heeled boots clicking against the cobblestones.

The snake tongue flickered at Tora's ear again. Then the voice hissed, "Sssplit up."

The pressure around Tora's waist immediately lessened. Then, something wrapped around her wrist like an iron chord and pulled her into another street.

"Damn..." Jake said, his voice back to normal. "Marines.."

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Tora blinked the spots out of her eyes. "As 'all right' as I can be, I'm sure." she said sharply. She closed her eyes and listened to the clicking of marine boots against the street. "They'll be coming this way soon..." she said. "What happened to Akira?"

* * *

"Whoaaaaaa!" Akira shouted. "Not cool!"

Why were the damn marines chasing him? He didn't even have a bounty yet! Oh well. I guess it's good practice.

Of course, Akira didn't know where the hell he was going. Loguetown was a maze of streets, shops, cafes, and people. Lots and lots of people.

Akira risked a look over his shoulder. There were at least fifty marines on his tail. Of course, Akira should have been able to blast them with his tremor-tremor fruit powers, but there were civilians around. _I'm a pirate._ he thought. _Not a cold blooded killer. _

Of course, that also caused him a few problems. He had absolutely no way to defend himself except for running.

He rounded a corner, and found himself back at the docks. Nowhere to run. "Ah, crap." he muttered.

That's when he noticed a guy, sitting in front of a small ship, moving his head like he was nodding to the beat of some song. Sure enough, the guy had black and white checkered headphones over his ears.

"Hey!" Akira shouted. "Get out of the way!"

Akira could hear the guy's music from ten feet away, but the guy opened an eye. "Get down!" he shouted.

Akira didn't fully understand, but he hit the street.

Over his head, the air hummed with energy. There was a cry of alarm from the marines, and all of them were blown off their feet.

Akira covered his ears. He was pretty sure his ears were going to start bleeding soon.

Finally, the vibrations stopped. "Phew."

Akira looked up, and came face to face with large, black boots.

The guy hauled him off the ground. He smirked at him, a mischievous look in his cobalt blue eyes. "Hey." he said, maybe a little louder than necessary. "You alright?"

* * *

Tora slumped against the wall of an old warehouse. The cold feeling was spreading through her body, numbing her senses. She ripped the bottom off her cloak, and tried to tie it around her shoulder.

Jake grabbed the end of the makeshift bandage and started tying it into a snug knot. "Sorry about that bite." he said, roughly. "Got a bit carried away."

Tora blinked. "I don't mind." she said. "I probably would have cut you to shreds if you hadn't."

"It's not a lethal amount of poison. You'll just feel a little sick for a while."

"Ah."

Jake tapped his machine gun hand against the rough cobblestones. "You know what it's like, don't you?... Being feared, I mean. Called a monster for the way you do your job."

Tora frowned. She knew, all right. More than knew.

(flashback starts)

"Ahh..." Tora sighed. She felt an odd sense of happiness. She put her hand on Shodai's hilt. "Time to go fishing." she said.

She stepped into the small fishing boat, untied the rope, and shoved off.

It was a beautiful day, the gulls were circling the sky, the breeze was pleasantly cool... and the fish weren't biting. At all.

Tora sighed. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and drifted off.

**BUMP!**

Tora opened her eyes. It felt like she had just been lifted out of the water. She blinked, trying to register what she was looking at.

She nearly had a heart attack. She was staring at a group of pirates.

She jumped to her feet. "What the hell?" she snapped.

The pirate captain drew a huge cutlass from his belt. "Say..." he said. "That's a nice sword, girlie. Give it to me."

Tora blinked. "No."

The captain frowned. "Then you'll die!"

Tora ducked under his strike. She grabbed Shodai's hilt, and pulled. To her pleasant surprise, there was a click. The sword slid from it's scabbard, ringing in a tone she'd never heard before.

The blade was beautiful, like there was a black forest fire climbing up the blade.

Then, she charged. There was a blur, and everything became tinged with red.

(flashback ends)

Tora nodded. "Yeah..." she said. "I know." Then, she blinked. She heard an odd, high pitched noise.

Tora stood up, but was immediately hit by a wave of vertigo.

Jake grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. "I think you should rest."

Tora shook her head. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but I need to find Akira. He can't go very far without getting himself into trouble."

**So, I hope you liked the chapter!**

**If you want to submit an OC, please include:**

**name: **

**age: **

**height: **

**species:**

**affiliation: (pirate, marine, that sort of thing)**

**appearance:**

**epithet: (ex. Crescent Moon Akira) **

**position on the crew: (rank if it's a marine) (Please include which crew if your OC is a pirate.)**

**devil fruit: (if any)**

**haki: (if any)**

**personality: **

**Pet peeves: (something that greatly annoys them that might be considered not so annoying to other people)**

**history: (this is an important one. In most cases, a character's history shapes who they are.)**

**quirks: **

**If your character has attack names, please name a few. **


	6. A talk over hot chocolate

**Hellooooo everyone!**

**Yay! I managed to get this done faster than I thought! **

**So, yeah, I don't own One Piece or any of the characters! I only own the very few OCs I thought up myself. **

**So, I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6

"Hey, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm sure. I'm feeling one hundred percent."

"Alright..." Jake sighed. What was up with this girl? She didn't have a devil fruit power, but she was faster than he was in normal form. Even with a near-lethal amount of poison in her system, Jake had to work hard to keep up. Of course, he didn't believe she was feeling better. Not by a long shot. Jake could see how pale she was getting. The makeshift bandage on her shoulder was soaked through with her blood. She was looking more and more pained every step she took.

Finally, she stopped by the southern dock, panting heavily. She swayed, and steadied herself against a streetlamp.

Jake decided to try one more time. "I think you should take a break. The poison in your system-"

"Isn't enough to kill me." she snapped. "I just stopped to catch my breath." Suddenly, she turned white as a sheet and doubled over. "Ah..." she said weakly. "Damn it to hell..."

Jake was no fool. He'd studied rattlesnake venom extensively since he'd eaten that devil fruit. He was pretty sure that he hadn't injected much poison into her bloodstream, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. He hadn't really planned on biting her, she was that guy's friend. And he was pretty sure friends don't bite friends and inject them with deadly venom. But she had startled him when she had tried to slash his head off. He hadn't expected Takakaze to be able to resist the snake hug, let alone attack him. She would have killed him, too, if he hadn't gotten out of the way.

Under different circumstances, Jake might have smiled grimly. Takakaze Tora was going easy on him, he knew. She was one terrifying chick. A monster in her own right.

Of course, no matter how much of a monster she was, Jake could tell Takakaze was really feeling the effects of his venomous bite. She was pale, so pale that she looked like she could drop dead at any second. Her forehead was beaded with sweat. Her breathing was getting ragged. "Have we lost those marines yet...?" she asked.

Jake nodded. "Yeah." he said. "Of course, we won't be able to stay here long."

Then, Takakaze frowned. "Why on earth are you following me, anyway?" she said. Even weak, she could give off a pretty intimidating growl.

"Because you need help." he said.

"Puh-lease." she said. Then, she clapped her hand over her mouth.

Jake stepped forward instinctively, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you should sit down. Nausea is a symptom of the poison."

Takakaze smacked his hand away. "Shove off." she snapped. "I'm not feeling nauseated. I'm just a little ti-" Her eyes dilated, and she nearly doubled over.

_Uh-oh..._ Jake thought. He turned away, so Tora could have some privacy. Besides, he didn't want to see another person throw up because of him.

Takakaze stood up, wiping off her mouth. If possible, she looked even worse. "Like I said, I'm fine."

Jake sighed. "Come on." he said, catching her elbow. "Follow me, Takakaze-san."

"I have to find Akira..." she growled.

Jake nodded in a way he hoped was reassuring. "Don't worry." he said. "I'm sure he's fine. Let's worry about you for now."

* * *

"You alright?" the guy asked.

Akira nodded, rubbing his temples. Then, he looked up at the guy and grinned. "That was awesome!" he said.

The guy shrugged. "I am pretty awesome." he said.

He sat down on a stool and took his headphones off. "So, what's your name, weird kid?"

"Flyer D. Akira." he said, holding out his hand.

The guy clapped his hand against Akira's. "Klyde Weston." he said. "Shipwright extraordinaire."

Akira frowned. Klyde Weston didn't really look like a shipwright. He looked more like a lazy teenager. He had thin, slate blue hair that hung down to his shoulders, and hung in his eyes. He would occasionally blow it out of his eyes, but it would just fall back into place. He wore a black t-shirt, with a white checkered design on the lower left side. The pockets in his cargo shorts were bulging with stuff, and BGM was stitched in white cursive on the left leg. He was wearing black boots at the moment, but he sat down on a wooden crate, took off his boots, and replaced them with white sandals. His headphones hung around his neck.

"So, Weston-" Akira began, but he was cut off.

"Call me Klyde. Everyone else does."

Akira nodded. "Okay, Klyde..." He looked up at the half-finished boat docked behind them. "did you build that yourself?"

Klyde nodded. "You bet I did!" He said. "I'm the best shipwright you're likely to meet!" He gestured behind him dramatically. "This," he said pridefully. "Is my finest work so far! I'm planning on sailing her through the Grand Line! She's gotta be the best ship around."

Akira grinned. "Great! It's a beauty!"

Klyde frowned. "I can tell how long you've been on the seas by _that._" he growled. "_Never_ refer to my ship as _it _again."

Akira raised his hands, palms outward. "Sorry." he said. "I've been on the seas for about three days. Maybe less."

Klyde stuffed his hands in his pockets, his frown softening slightly. "Fine." he said. "Anyway, she's the finest work I've done yet!"

"Sweet!" Akira said. "What's her name?"

Klyde shrugged. "I don't name my ships until they're finished. And, as you can see, she's not finished yet."

Akira paced in front of the ship, getting a load of the beautifully built keel. "Awesome! I bet it would take a crew of at least three people!"

"Well," Klyde said, putting his hands behind his head. "Seventeen would be ideal, but you could man her with a crew of five with only minor difficulties."

"Oh." Akira said. "I've only got two other people on my crew, and one of them hasn't accepted the other yet, so I guess we're only a group of two."

Klyde chuckled. "Then I'd suggest trying to get more crew members." He pulled a small thing connected by gears out of his pocket, and started fiddling with it.

Akira stared at the ship for a moment, then he asked. "Where's her masthead?" he asked.

Klyde's face lit up. "Oh, have a look!" he said. He opened the crate he had been sitting on. He pulled up a round thing.

Akira laughed. "AWESOME! IT'S A ROTTWEILER!"

Klyde dropped the masthead and put his hands over his ears.

The rottie masthead hit the cobblestones with a dull thud. It rolled for a few feet, then stopped.

"Not so loud..." Klyde hissed under his breath.

Akira stepped up to him. "You okay Klyde?" he asked.

Klyde nodded. "Yeah." He blinked hard. "I just don't like loud noises that I don't create. They cause me to, well, glitch out."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "Glitch out? What do you mean?"

Klyde scratched his unruly hair. "Well," he said. "It's because of the devil fruit I ate." He held his hand out in front of him, and his hand disappeared.

"Woo!" Akira said, impressed. "You can turn invisible?"

Klyde snorted. "What? You think I ate the clear-clear fruit?" He chuckled. "Nah. I ate the sound-sound fruit. I can turn my body into sound waves. That's why you can't see my hands." He sighed. "Of course, that means I've got no hearing whatsoever. I have a kind of substitute hearing, but if I hear something too loud."

Akira grinned. "That's cool!" he picked up the masthead, and handed it to Klyde. "Say," he said. "Will you join my crew?"

* * *

"Hey, Takakaze," Jake said. "This looks like a good place." He pointed to a cafe close to the western docks. There were about fifteen tables at the patio outside, none of them were occupied. There was a sign hanging on the door handle. _Come in. We're open. _

Takakaze frowned. "Hell. No." she said. "This is no time to be relaxing in a cafe. I need to find my captain."

Jake sighed. "Come on." he said. "With that bite, you need to keep warm. I would take you to the hospital, but I'm not really well received in the controlled zones as you can see. Your heart rate will slow down a bit. You know what happens when your heart slows."

Takakaze nodded. "Loss of body heat."

Jake shrugged. "So, I'll buy you a coffee or something."

Takakaze stared at him like he'd just evolved from pond scum. "I can pay for my own drink." she snapped. She staggered to the door, threw it open, and stalked up to the counter. She ordered a large hot chocolate, and chose a table.

Jake ordered a coffee, and walked over to the table. He pulled up a chair, and sat down. Then, a wave of narcolepsy washed over him and he fell asleep.

* * *

Tora stared at Jake, who had just fallen asleep when he sat down. She sighed in exasperation. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Jake pulled up his head. "Wha-"

Across the polished oak table, Takakaze rolled her eyes. "Back in the world of the living?" she asked. She looked even paler than before.

"How long was I out?" he groaned.

Takakaze frowned, then coughed. "Almost half an hour." she was holding her sword in her right hand, and a huge empty mug in her left. She motioned to his coffee mug. "You might want to order another. Yours is probably stone cold by now."

Jake shrugged and rubbed his eyes with his hand. Suddenly, a flash of pain shot up his right arm. He gasped in pain and clutched the stump where the machine gun was connected.

Takakaze raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"

Jake blinked the dark spots out of his eyes. "I'm fine." he said. "This happens all the time." Sometimes he had this flash of pain where his hand used to be. He'd heard of it before, but he had never believed it until he lost his hand.

Takakaze eyed him with a calculating look in her eyes. "How on earth did you know about me if you're from the Grand Line?" she finally asked.

Jake sighed and placed his machine gun on the table, pointing it away from her. "If you're a bounty hunter, you'd have to be an ignoramus to not know you. You're called the most ferocious bounty hunter in the east blue."

Takakaze chuckled weakly. "Yeah, and I got my ass handed to me when I fought you." she said.

Jake blinked. "I knew you could probably defeat me, but you were holding back."

"We all were." she said. "You didn't even use that." She pointed to his machine gun hand. "If you don't mind my asking, what drove you to give up bounty hunting? It's a lot better than getting chased around by other bounty hunters and marines all the time, on your own."

Jake sighed. He thought about how he would respond to that question. "Well..." he said. God, he hated long conversations. "I guess I have to begin at the beginning." He took a deep breath, and took the proverbial plunge. "So, it all started in Dry Tongues town, when I was about seven years old.

* * *

(flashback starts)

The target sat there... propped against a cactus.

Jake lowered his pistol and... **BANG!**

A small hole was shredded through the target.

Jake blew the smoke from the mouth of his gun barrel. He turned around, his eyes shining. "Did you see that, Dad?"

His father looked up from the machine he was tinkering with. His black eyes crinkled in a smile. "Very good, Jake." he said in his gruff voice. "You have a true aim."

Jake grinned. "I'm gonna become an amazing marksman one day! The best ever!"

His dad stood up, and walked over to him. He put his large, calloused hand on his son's shoulder. He took the pistol out of Jake's hands and opened it, revealing the bullet case inside. "How would you like it if I made you a true rifle?"

Jake grinned from ear to ear. "Thanks Dad!" he said brightly.

* * *

"See ya, Dad!" Jake called. "I'm off to do some training!"

His dad looked up from the new machine he was designing. "You be careful, Jake." he said. "I expect you back before dinner."

Jake ran through the desert, his heart all aflutter with excitement. His new rifle thumped lightly against his back as he ran. He stopped in the middle of a clearing. There were cacti all around him. "This should be a good place." he said.

He pulled his rifle off his back, and took a step forward.

Suddenly, he was pulled off balance. The very ground beneath his feet was collapsing in on itself, and he was falling with it! Finally, the falling and the spinning stopped. Jake blinked the sand out of his eyes, and nearly had a heart attack.

Standing above him, shell gleaming in the sun, nippers snapping, was a giant pit scorpion. It eyed Jake like he was his next meal.

His throat closing in fear, Jake clawed backwards to put even a bit of distance between him and the monster.

The scorpion closed in. It raised it's huge stinger.

"NO!" Jake held out his hand, as if that would protect him. Suddenly, a bolt of pain shot through his hand, and up his arm. His hand was lying on the sand in front of him.

Jake felt panic rise in his chest. He scrambled backward, trying to ignore the dizziness and the throbbing. He clumsily grabbed his rifle with his left hand, and shakily aimed it at the scorpion. He pointed it to the beast, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet ripped through the scorpion's tough cranial shell. The scorpion started frothing at the pincers, and collapsed.

Jake stared at the dead scorpion in absolute horror. Finally, pain overcame him, and he collapsed.

* * *

"DAD!" Jake called. "Dad! Help!" It had taken him almost five hours to climb out of the scorpion pit and walk home, and the pain was getting worse and worse.

Jake managed to push in the door, and collapsed on the cold machine shop floor.

* * *

Jake opened his eyes. Everything was so fuzzy. He lifted his right arm. There was a shiny metal gear-y thing attached to the stump of his arm. A metal hand.

"You like it?"

Jake looked up. "Dad!"

His father sighed. "Care to tell me what happened?" he said.

Jake gulped. He took a deep breath and told him everything.

His father was a great listener. He didn't look surprised at all. "Well." he said. "Are you feeling well enough to have dinner?"

Jake couldn't believe his dad could think about dinner at a time like that. Then, his stomach rumbled.

* * *

(_one year later_)

**BANG!**

The desert monster collapsed, a bullet hole in it's head.

An eight-year-old Jake grinned with satisfaction, as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Yes!" he shouted.

It was a real scorcher that day. Jake was tired, and of course, thirsty. He took another step, then collapsed. He lifted his head. There was a cactus right in front of him. Except this cactus looked off, somehow. Oh well. A cactus was still a cactus, which meant, it was edible. He grabbed it, pulled off it's thorns, and took a huge bite.

He nearly spat it out. It tasted like crap. Worse than crap.

Suddenly, he blinked. He thought he could hear screaming coming from the town. He ran all the way to his home.

Bandits. Of course. It _had_ to be bandits. Or desert robbers. It didn't really matter what terminology Jake used. All he knew was, attacking his house were fifteen large, burly guys, all of them armed to the teeth.

Hot tears stung Jake's eyes. He imagined taking out all of them. Suddenly, he felt his body becoming sleeker, faster.

The bandits turned around, startled. They brandished their weapons, but Jake knocked them all unconscious. "Dad!" he shouted.

His father was leaning against his work table. There was an ugly red gash across his forehead, and across his left eye.

Jake ran to his side. "Are you okay?!" he yelped.

His dad opened his good eye. "I'll live." he said. "I... I can't believe it's you..." he said. "I suppose you ate a devil fruit..." he said.

"A what?!" Jake said, confused.

Suddenly, Jake heard a click behind him. He turned to see a huge man, holding a six-barrelled machine gun. The man grinned behind his greasy dreadlocks, and pointed his gun.

Fire coursed through Jake's veins again. He felt himself transforming again. This time into a full snake, at least six feet long. He slithered up to the man and sank his fangs into his shoulder.

The bandit gasped, and collapsed.

Jake turned back into a human, and collapsed.

His father walked up to him, and picked him up. "That was amazing, Son." he said.

Jake blinked hard, then looked at the machine gun at his dad's feet. "Dad..." he said. "Can you do me a favor?"

* * *

(_eight years later_)

"So, you're going to face the world on your own now?"

Jake nodded. "I know there's more to the world than Dry-Tongues town." he said. He put his hand on the machine gun his father had attached to his arm. "Thank-you for everything you've done, Dad."

His father smiled. "What will you do, Jake?" he said.

Jake shrugged. "I was thinking of setting out to sea." he said. "It's a completely new environment, and I need to expand my horizons..."

"Good luck, Son."

Jake gave his father a hug, then turned his back on his home. He walked through the town in silence.

(flashback ends)

* * *

Takakaze frowned. "So... The reason you turned to bounty hunting...?"

Jake shrugged. "I needed some money. I didn't have enough to get a boat, so I had to hunt bounty heads. After awhile, it just stuck."

Takakaze nodded. "It's just another way to stay alive." she said. "I know what you mean."

Suddenly, the door burst open. Marines jogged into the cafe. At least fifty of them, which was really all the cafe could hold. There were probably twice that many outside the door.

"'Rattlesnake' Jake and 'Thunderstroke' Tora." one of them said. "I am placing you under arrest for assault, and piracy."

**Please review! Reading them really makes my day!**


End file.
